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Bad weather delays Helga María

‘We’ve had appalling weather since late last night. The wind speed has gone up to 25 to 30m/sec and we have been taking it slowly. Before this weather broke we had expected to be in Reykjavík late tonight, but now we can see that we won’t be there until midday tomorrow at the earliest,’ said skipper Eiríkur Ragnarsson when Helga María was nearing Kötlutangi on its way home from Gdansk in Poland.

As we have already reported, Helga María has been undergoing a major refit in Poland since the summer. The ship will operate in the future as a fresher trawler, although it´s original role was as a factory freezer vessel. They sailed from Gdansk last Friday and Eiríkur Ragnarsson said that they have taken the shortest route home, which is a roughly 1600 nautical mile steam.

‘We had rough weather on the way and went through a storm in the North Sea, and another one now. The ship is light and is performing well, so we’re doing fine,’ he said, adding that the refit has been very successful.

‘There aren’t many changes that you’d notice right away, although the stern has been closed in and that makes the vessel look bigger. There have been a lot of improvements to the accommodation. The galley and mess have been shifted further forward and two cabins were sacrificed for a new lounge. On the catch handling deck the filleters and freezers have all been removed, and a full set of new conveyors, washers and a grader are to be fitted, which is the first time that we have had this kind of gear on board this ship. In fact, I have never seen so much equipment on board a fresher trawler and if anything, there’s more than there was when we were filleting and freezing everything on board,’ Eiríkur Ragnarsson said.

Although the equipment is on board, this still needs to be fitted and connected. Additional equipment is due to be fitted by 3X Technology and along with sub-contractors, 3X staff will install everything. If everything goes according to plan, Helga María should be ready for its first trip as a fresher trawler early in the New Year.